BIRD BRAINS

I swear this will be the last post I do for awhile with amusing (?) photos of birds.  So, let's get started.

"O.K.  Is everybody on board?  Staying dry?"

"Say, that's not a bad idea."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen."

"Oh, just shut your trap, willya."



"In my Easter bonnet . . ."



"Heh-heh-heh.  That's all, folks!"

DINING OUT

The subject of today's blog is the avian world and its members search for a good meal.

Sometimes that involves a bit of disagreement over whose meal is whose.

It seems this struggle goes on with smaller birds, as well, though perhaps a bit less strenuously.

Some of our colorful friends prefer to be fed directly by the chef, though this fellow seems to be considering the daily fare with some skepticism.

And always, in the bird world as in the human universe, there are the gourmets, who gaze on their impending meal with a curious eye and an imperious attitude.  Even a piece of cheese can be dissected for provenance, for appearance, for aroma before the ultimate test, taste.

I hasten to add that I took none of the preceding photographs and I know nothing of their creators.  As I said yesterday, they came in an e-mail, the modern way of receiving something "over the transom."

OVER THE TRANSOM

As I was thinking of a title for this blog, it occurred to me that many of you may be unfamiliar with a transom window.  I guess it's not a feature of many homes these days.  I suspect it was a feature dreamed up before air conditioning became prevalent.  Basically, it's a small window directly over a door that could be propped open for air flow.  Here's a photo of one.

Anyway an expression evolved as "something came in over the transom", meaning something unexpected came into your house through that window.

Now that we have that straight, I have a variety of items to show you that came to me by e-mail today (or over the transom.)

First is a series of remarkable photographs by a professional sports photographer in Phoenix of a giant dust storm this summer.  Take a look at the amazing photographs from the blog of Mark J. Rebilas.

Next some photographs of a home project at my cousin Bonnie's house in Billings, Montana.  The deck around their house was about 30 years old and they decided they needed a new one.  Here's how it began.



And here's the finished product.

Pretty darn nice, isn't it.  As Bonnie said, not bad for a bunch of amateurs.

You may remember my cousin Bonnie from an earlier post.  She's a bluegrass musician, playing a variety of instruments.  Looks to me like she's got her own stage for some concerts now.

Not being much of a handyman myself, you can well imagine when I saw these pictures I was all eyes.

  Or should I have said "owl eyes."  Actually, that was one of a number of photos sent to me by my friend, Meggie who blogs from "way down under", as we Northern Hemisphere snobs like to say.

I'll try to put some more pictures from "over the transom" on in another post.



DIDJA MISS ME?

I know, I know, I keep having these lapses in my blogging.  And I know when I don't post, there are millions out there who feel bereft. 

Well. 

Maybe not millions. 

Maybe thousands.

Hundreds?

Tens?

O.K.  Two or three.

But, you see, as I have said many times before I live a very sedentary life these days.  I don't think you'd be interested in my trips to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions.

Or my now infrequent visits to the kitchen to try to cook something.

(However, I did make a foray there last night.  We had some leftover Kraft macaroni and cheese.  And several pieces of chicken that were cooked a few days ago.  So I had the idea to plate the mac and cheese and slice up the chicken fairly finely and arrange it over the m&c and heat it up in the microwave.  But I figured it might be pretty dry so I tried a trick I'd seen many fancy chefs use on the food channel.  I fried an egg, sunny side up, and placed it on top of everything else.  Y'know what?  It was pretty darn tasty!  But I don't think I'll send the recipe to Bon Appetit.)

So, any way.  I need something to blog about before I can bring myself to blog.  After several days of what we used to call in broadcasting "dead air", it arrived in an e-mail from the BRD this evening.

She said she'd brought the plants in for the winter and arranged them along with a couple of cat beds.  And she said it seemed to be kitty approved.  I agree.  Here's her photo.

On the top level, Lilly and Jet.  Underneath, Mister Taz.

The newcomer down below originally was called Taz, short for the Tasmanian Devil.  But of late the BRD says she's been calling him "Mister" more often.  So I have dubbed him Mister Taz.

Or, like most cats, maybe he just chose his own name.

WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR!

The season is finally over for my Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Milwaukee Brewers finally ended it for them in the bottom of the 10th inning this evening with a hard-fought one-run victory in the 5th game of the 5 game series.  So congratulations to the Brewers.

But D-Backs fans have nothing to be ashamed of.  They went from worst in their division last year to first this year, defeating the incumbent World Champion San Francisco Giants by 8 games.

The real star of their team is this man.

He is their manager, Kirk Gibson.  He is given credit for changing the attitude of this team and making them champions of the National League West this year.  Nearly everyone says he should be named the National League Manager of the Year.

Meantime, as we Brooklyn Dodgers fans used to say back in the 40's and 50's - "Wait 'til next year!"

OH . . .

It is always such a good night when the Yankees get beat!

W, YOU'RE LOOKIN' BETTER EVERY DAY

I was a big critic of George W. Bush during his presidency, for a lot of things but largely because of his crippled syntax.  But he looks darn near eloquent, next to Sarah Palin.

I quote from Ms. Palin's interview with Greta Van Susteren on why she decided not to seek the presidency in 2012.

"I concluded that I can be an effective voice and a real decisive role in helping get true public servants elected to office, not just in the presidency, but we have 33 senate seats coming up, we have a House of Representatives that we need to strengthen in numbers, conservatives who understand that our country has got to get back on the right track economically here and governors' seats around the nation."


Now, I ask you: does that make any sense?

Does Sarah Palin ever make any sense?

W, we hardly new ye.

BREAKING NEWS

I have decided, after much consideration of the ins and outs, that I shall not, this year, seek the presidency of the United States.  I'm sure you're all disappointed but, as New Jersey Governor Chris Christy said yesterday, "now is not my time."

I think you should know that I have put in virtually no thought to running for president.  I have not discussed it with my wife or children or her children or my grandchildren or her grandchildren.  Neither have I mentioned it to my brother or his children (my nieces and nephews) or any of their children.

None of my friends have been consulted about this great decision.  I don't have a pastor but if I did I can assure you that he would not have been consulted either.

Nor would my psychiatrist, if I had one.  Nor any of my doctors, of which I have too many.

No, this has been totally my decision, reached after I stopped laughing when I just read that Sarah Palin has decided that she won't run for president in 2012 either.

Needless to say, I am still happy to accept any monetary donations that my friends, families and followers would care to send me.

Gosh darn it, this is shaping up to be quite a politicial season, isn't it?

DECEMBER 21, 2012

Remember the horror that was Y2K?  And all of the predictions of the End of Times through the years from one religious quack or another?  The current one stems from the calendar of the Mayan Indians of Mexico, which supposedly comes to an end on December 21st, 2012, at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time.  That's the prediction of one Lawrence E. Joseph, an alleged writer.

But others, like Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican studies, say to render Dec. 21, 2012, as a doomsday or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in."

So, as the old saying goes "don't sell the farm."  I suspect we'll all make it to Christmas Day next year.

But in the meantime, the sky over my part of Arizona today resembled some kind of apocalypse.

AUTUMN . . AND THE TEMPERATURE IS DROPPING

It looks like Autumn has finally gotten serious.  The high temperatures on the past balmy weekend were in the lower 80's.  Even today it is forecast to hit 79.  But tomorrow, ah tomorrow, that's when the temperatures will begin to drop.  Tomorrow's high is forecast to be 70, Wednesday's 69 and by Thursday the forecast high is 60!  That's SIXTY DEGREES, folks.  Flagstaff, only about 80 miles from here but a couple of thousand feet higher in elevation, has a possibility of SNOW!

Yes, I'm afraid the balmy days of summer are gone for this year and it won't be too long until we see something like this.

And then we'll be right back to complaining about the snow, the ice and the cold weather and wondering if summer will ever come.

SAD-URDAY SORROW

The baseball playoffs have begun and my Arizona Diamondbacks and their star pitcher Ian Kennedy were beaten in their opening game by the Milwaukee Brewers.  It was only 4 to 1 but it's still a loss.  Not as bad as the 9 to nothing drubbing Tampa Bay gave Texas yesterday or the 11 to 3 lesson the Phillies are handing the Cardinals as I write.  But a loss is a loss, especially at this time of year.

However, to quote a great American scholar, "tomorrow is another day."  (Scarlett O'Hara)

FOOLISH FRIDAY

It's Friday.  Time to relax, kick back and have some fun. 

If you're one of those people who still practice meatless Fridays, you might want to try some tasty catfish.



I hope none of you need to fly anywhere this Friday.  It's become more and more of a hassle.

Where ever and however you spend your day, make it a fun one!



RET.

All right, this time I'm really gonna tick some of you off.  I know it but I just can't restrain myself.

I was a draft dodger back in the late 50's-early 60's.  Not a real brave dodger who went to Canada or something.  I mean, first of all, I was going to college.  That got me "deferred".  That's a real polite way of saying "Let someone else go."

Then I left college behind and I was probably fair game for awhile.  But then I got married.  And my new wife had a 2 year old son.  So I'm not only married, I'm a father.  That got me deferred big time.  All of this was in the time of Korea.  Vietnam hadn't even begun yet. 

So, I never served my country in the military.  Sometimes I feel a bit sorry about that but most of the time I say "thank God".  I don't think I ever had that killer instinct.

All of which is to say that I sometimes scorn and sometimes praise those veterans who proudly make their service known.  Now, on the scorn side, are those guys who put "General, U.S. Army, Retired" or some such on their mail boxes, their personalized envelopes, their business cards, or whatever. 

But there are the other guys.  The fighters.  The guys who left friends behind on the battlefield.

Well.

I saw a car in a parking lot today and I took a picture.  I have no idea what the owner has in his history but he's sure proud of it.  And he may have reason to be.  Anyway, there's the picture.

What do YOU think?

THE COLOR IS BLACK

I'm not sure why it is but the BRD and I both seem to be drawn to black cats.  Don't get me wrong.  We have other cats of different hues and shades and the like.  But especially at this time of year, as we near October and work through the month to that most hallowed of nights . . the 31st . . . Halloween . . . well, then that's when a truly black cat comes into its own.  Just a short time ago, I received a photo by e-mail from the BRD of her black cat, Jet, posed provocatively and letting us all know what Halloween is all about.

I accused her of being lucky with that shot but she says she's been shooting him for three days to get it so I'll just say she's a great photographer.

Now, that's not all.  You may remember my blog post yesterday about that big black Jeep.  Well, the BRD's Beau Jack sent me two, count 'em, TWO photographs today of HIS jeep.  It's a little more rugged than the one I saw.  Take a look.



I like the look of that winch on the front.  You never know when you're going to have to pull some prissy yuppie's car out of a ditch.

A MAN CAR

Now I'm a sensitive guy.  I have my feminine side.  Don't get me wrong.  I appreciate my wife and my daughter and can understand their concerns when things get rough.  But . . .

I mean but . . .

There are some times when a man just has to be a man.

This happened to me the other day when I looked out the window and saw this car in my neighbor's driveway.

That, my friends, is a Jeep.  And not one of those bright red, girly kind of Jeeps.  This one is matte black, tinted windows, high off the wheels.  It's a JEEP, damnit.  The way it was supposed to be made.

Dog-gone!  That's a MAN'S ride!

SIGNS OF FALL

Last year around this time, the BRD and her Beau Jack went to a Halloween party.  She had a single pumpkin outside her front door.  When they returned from the party they found the pumpkin smashed to smithereens, probably by some disappointed trick-or-treater.  Being the BRD, she just swept the detritus off into a garden area.  This year here's what those abandoned seeds have produced.

Meanwhile over at our house the Pampas grass is really flying its freak flag these days.

That plant has grown to 7 or 8 feet tall this year.

Yes, autumn is in the air.  Even if the temperature is still climbing to the upper 80's every day.

FLORIDA STRAW POLL

The results are in from the latest Republican Straw Poll, this time in Florida.  They are as follows:

Michelle Bachmann          1.5%
Jon Huntsman                   2.26%
Newt Gingrich                    8.4%
Ron Paul                             10%
Mitt Romney                        14%
Rick Perry                             15.43%

And the winner by better than 2 to 1 over Perry in second place was . . . . . .tadatadadah!

Herman Cain with 37.11%


All of which goes to prove that Republican voters in this year of the Tea Party are stone cold crazy!

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

There are some . . . like my long-time-ago colleague Tim . . . who say "I can't watch baseball . . it's too slow."

I could say I follow my team because I'm older and slower now.  But I don't think that's true since I've been following Major League Baseball since I was around six years old.  (And that's a long time ago!)  At any rate, last night was exciting to me as my Arizona Diamondbacks beat the reigning World Champion San Francisco Giants to clinch the National League West Division title for 2011.

I watched the game on television and then what seemed like close to an hour of the team celebrating on the field, in the locker room, back on the field and finally into a group jump into the swimming pool beyond the outfield.  It brought to my mind the fact that these guys are all just boys playing a game.  Sure there are million dollar salaries among them but when a big victory comes they all act like kids.  And it's fun to see.

So, they've reached one plateau.  Next are the playoffs and if they survive them it's on to the World Series.  Only a week or so ago the team celebrated the 10th year anniversary of their biggest win as a team so far.

Could they repeat this year?  Their great manager, Kirk Gibson, didn't predict that last night but he did have a great quote: "We're a damn good team!"  Well said, Kirk.  Here's hoping.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

FEMALE JOCKEYS

I have a long time friend from my days in broadcasting who has gone on to a successful career in video production in (Hooray for..) Hollywood.  Her name is Linda Ellman.  I got an email from her today asking that I take a look at a new project she's got underway.  I'm going to print her email here and ask you to take a look at her project.  If you can, give her some financial support.  If not, just enjoy.  Here's her e-mail with a link to a video.

Hey,


I wanted to bring you up to date on JOCK, my "League of Their Own" documentary about the pioneer female jockeys who fought for the right to ride, 40 years ago. We've got a great beginning and a great ending for the film--centered around the first ever 'Lady Legend's Race' shot last year at Pimlico. -- Now we're traveling cross country shooting the historical interviews for the middle.


Either we need to interest a network in buying a one-off or in order to complete shooting, we need to raise money. I am hoping you can help us spread the word... We have launched a Kickstarter campaign. If you haven't heard of Kickstarter, here's how it works. Click on this link and watch the NEW VIDEO that explains the film.


JOCK VIDEO


Then make a pledge. Any amount helps. It's all or nothing. If we don't reach our goal, you're not charged. If we do, we can keep filming.


The right side of the Kickstarter page shows the pledge amounts and REWARDS. Wait...rewards, yes! Lots of cool gifts.


One of the film's friends sent an email to everybody in her contacts challenging them to match her pledge... The results were great! She raised more than $1,000 in one night. If 30 people would do that...we'd reach our goal.


This is going to be a great film about women and horse racing. Anything you can do to share this request with friends, family, co-workers--anybody in the horse world would be greatly appreciated.


Best,


~Linda


Linda Ellman
President
Ellman Entertainment
1040 N. Las Palmas Ave. Bldg 26
Hollywood, Ca. 90038

Phone: 323 860-8500


www.ellmanentertainment.com

HAVE A SEAT

The BRD took us and her Beau Jack to lunch yesterday at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Casa Bonita.  The food is good but I think the highlight of any trip there is viewing the chairs.  They come from Guadalajara, where we used to live, and are carved and colorfully painted.

EGGS 'N' SAUSAGE 'N' . . .

Sunday morning weirdness from a master of it.



Now if that's not enough, take a look at Waits' press conference hyping his Glitter and Doom tour.  (Watch it to the end for the joke.)



Now for something a little different, one of my favorite songs from the man who wrote it, performed at a tribute to the late Johnny Cash.

I WONDER . . .

. . . if there's a vaccine for ignorance.

IN OTHER WORDS . . .

Am I appreciated?  Does anyone care?  Well do they?  Witness this message in an e-mail from my old buddy, Tom, who hosts Light Breezes from over in Cal-eye-for-nee-yay.

Post something. A day without Odball Observations is like a day without Anita Bryant---no, no, like a day without either sunshine or orange juice...probably sunshine since I rarely drink oj unless it has been fortified.


how do I know the eastern perimeter of cyber west is ok if I don't see it on OO?

So, taking old Tom's urging to heart, here I am.  What have I been thinking about lately?



Actually I haven't been thinking about that all that much but I do like the song.

It's been very rainy here this week with thundershowers nearly every day.  It sort of takes me back to when I lived in Phoenix.  After about two cloudy, rainy days in a row I'd be grumbling "doesn't the sun ever shine around here?"

(You may not want to read the next part if you're a conservative Republican.  Fair warning.)

I've been contemplating the wackiness going on in the Republican party this year.  Wide-eyed Michelle Bachman, feisty Rick Perry, the man with the weird ideas Ron Paul, a pizza man (?) Herman Cain, and the formerly perennial favorite that no one seems to like anymore Mitt Romney.  I mean, lord have mercy, what a crew!  Actually I guess I was unfair to Ron Paul.  They ALL seem to have a lot of crackpot ideas.  Jon Huntsman had seemed to be the most reasonable of the bunch up until that wild-ass Tea Party debate the other night when he said Perry's statements that Social Security might be unconstitutional sounded like treason to him.  Sheesh!  It's hard to figure out where to begin analyzing this crowd.  Analysis!  Maybe that's what they all need. 

Well, nuff said.  I'll bet even old Tom will start asking me to shut up again!

Front cover of today's New York Daily News.

AND THAT'S JAZZ!

Yes, gentle readers, I've been lazy again lately.  I guess you'll just have to get used to my absences.  I've been enjoying our cooler autumn weather.  But today's post will go from cool to red hot.

Let me explain.  I had never heard of Patricia Barber before this morning.  But I discovered her on my friend Dana's blog, Bug's Eve View.  I listened to the recording there and said "Wow!"  (I encourage you to visit her blog and listen to "Let It Rain", too.)  So then I went to You Tube and found Barber and her jazz quartet performing "Norwegian Wood".  Just give a listen.  Warning: it's 10 minutes long but the drum solo at the end is well worth the wait.  So, without further ado . . .

RAIN

Finally, after what seemed like a failed monsoon season, the rain came yesterday in short but recurring thunderstorms through the afternoon and early evening.  For my friends over in drought and fire ravaged Texas then here is the sight and sound of what you need.



So far today no rain but the temperature was just above 60 degrees when I got up this morning.  It feels wonderful.

PICANTE *

Asian Peppers

* Hotter than Hell

A FACE IN THE CLOUDS

Hmmmm.  I wonder what this means.



A MOVIE AND SOME MUSIC

I find less and less to write about in my sedentary life these days.  But I can make some recommendations.  First among these is a Danish movie I watched today - "In A Better World".  If I were a critic I would give it five stars.  It has already won the 2011 Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Best Foreign Language film.  And the actors are not only skillful but beautiful to look at.  If you haven't seen it . . do.

Now, off on a totally different track, here is one of my favorite singers performing with one of my favorite bands.  Van Morrison and the Chieftains with some Irish soul.

AND NOW. . .

. . . for something completely different.  I have my blogger friend, Tess, to thank for this.  She posted it on her Facebook page and after listening to it twice I had to share it with y'all.  By the way, that "y'all" is proper because the singer is a Texas girl named Janis Joplin.  This recording, with some studio crosstalk, is her first ever studio recording of "Me and Bobbie McGee".  Enjoy.

SEPTEMBER . . FINALLY

At last, it's here.  September.  But summer lingers on here with temperatures in the 90's daily.  But cooler weather can't be far beyond.  So in that spirit here are some talented musicians performing a song for the season, written by Kurt Weill although this video gives the credit to the famed Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.

PHAROAH MARKS, MY PHUT!

Yesterday's puzzle picture has been solved.  The guesses were pretty much all of a kind.  Well except for Bobby's guess of a toilet roll holder (????)  And then Tom, who didn't have any idea at all.  But Steve and Dana the Bug were very close and Quilteddogs was right on the money.

Here's an expanded photo.

It's the bridge over Viewpoint that will eventually carry traffic on Highway 89-A.

Thanks for the guesses and congratulations to QD on her good eye.